Chapter 5 - The Tunnels Beneath the Floor
The gallery erupted into chaos once more.
Gunfire shattered the remaining glass in the bay windows as Vance’s two remaining guards opened fire. Vincent moved with brutal, practiced efficiency, dropping one guard with a single shot to the center chest and driving the second guard back down the stairs with a heavy shoulder tackle.
Evan and Vance wrestled violently on the floor, rolling across the Persian rug in a tangle of limbs and dark coats.
“Savannah! The service lift!” Vincent roared, firing two more suppression shots down the stairwell to keep Vance’s men at bay. “Take the girl and run!”
Savannah didn't need to be told twice. She scooped Lucy up into her arms, scrambled to her feet, and bolted down the narrow service corridor toward the back of the house.
Behind her, she heard the heavy crash of furniture breaking and the unmistakable sound of Evan’s labored, agonizing groans as his injured shoulder took the brunt of the struggle.
She reached the small brass doors of the manual service lift—an old, heavy dumbwaiter system used for hauling linens between floors. But before she could pull the lever, a heavy hand grabbed her shoulder from behind.
Savannah shrieked, spinning around with her hand raised to strike.
It was Evan.
He was bleeding heavily now, dark crimson soaking through his shirt, his jaw bruised and battered, but his grey eyes were bright with a desperate, frantic intensity.
“Not the lift,” Evan gasped, his breath coming in ragged hitches. “They’ll cut the cables from the basement. Follow me.”
He reached out with a trembling hand, grabbing the decorative brass wall sconce beside the service door, and pulled it down sharply.
With a low, grinding sound of old iron gears, a hidden panel in the oak wainscoting swung inward, revealing a pitch-black, narrow staircase leading down into the foundations of the house.
Savannah stared at the dark opening, then at the man who had her employer’s exact face.
“Why should I trust you?” Savannah demanded, her back pressed against the wall, shielding Lucy. “You brought those men here!”
Evan looked at her, his expression softening for a fraction of a second as his gaze flicked down to Lucy, who was still clutching her stuffed rabbit.
“Because I’m the one who left the watch pieces for your daughter,” Evan said softly, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out the other half of the silver casing. “And because if you stay up here, my brother won't be able to protect either of you.”
Down the hall, the heavy footsteps of Vance’s men were approaching fast.
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“Savannah!” Vincent’s voice echoed down the corridor as he fired another defensive volley. “Go with him! The tunnel leads to the old boathouse!”
Savannah looked at the bleeding, scarred twin, took a deep breath, and stepped into the dark secret passage.
